| Lorella Cuccarini | |
| Birth Name: | Lorella Cuccarini Persili |
| Birth Date: | 10 August 1965 |
| Birth Place: | Rome, Italy |
Lorella Cuccarini Persili (born August 10, 1965) is an Italian dancer, television presenter, singer, and actress.
Born in Rome, at nine years old Cuccarini started to attend the dance school of (choreographer and husband of Carmen Russo).[1] After some experiences as a chorus girl, Cuccarini made her television debut at twenty years old alongside Pippo Baudo in the sixth edition of Fantastico, then she worked for RAI and Mediaset in many successful variety shows, including Festivalbar, seven editions of Paperissima and of Trenta ore per la vita, three editions of Buona Domenica.[1] [2]
Cuccarini is also a singer, with several top-ten charting singles and albums;[3] in 1995 she entered the Sanremo Music Festival 1995 (she had hosted two years earlier), ranking tenth with the song "Un altro amore no".[1] [4]
Following her performance at the 2011 Billboard Music Awards, American pop star Beyoncé initially received widespread praise from fans and critics.[5] Critics, however, voiced concerns about similarities to Cuccarini's in February 2010 performance at the 60th Sanremo Music Festival. Billy Johnson, Jr of Yahoo! Music wrote: "Kenzo Digital, who spent a month creating Beyoncé's interactive video, told Yahoo! News that Lorella concert footage is only part of the inspiration for Beyoncé's show: "[The Cuccarini artists] are awesome and do incredible work as well, but there are a lot of different inspirations for where our piece came from."[6] Beyoncé responded two days later through an interview with AOL Music, saying she was inspired after finding Cuccarini's performance online:"My makeup artist showed me the performance of Lorella Cuccarini a year ago, and it inspired me so much. I then met with the talented people who worked on it. The technology and concept were so genius. She was inspired after discovering Cuccarini's performance online. Thank God for YouTube or I would have never been exposed to something so inspiring. I never worked so hard on anything in my life as that performance for the Billboard Awards."[7]
Cuccarini married the composer Silvio Testi in 1991. They have four children.[1]
Her father, Vero Cuccarini, has been repeatedly convicted of usury.[8] In January 2019 she openly spoke in favour of the anti-refugee policies of Matteo Salvini, leader of Lega Nord.[9] Meanwhile, she also expressed opinions against the appeals for reception of Pope Francis.[10]
| Album details | Certifications | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Lorel |
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| Voci |
| ||
| Voglia di fare |
| Album details | Certifications | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Heather e Lorella (with Heather Parisi) |
| ||
| Nemicamatissima |
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| Year | Peak chart positions | Certifications | Album | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ITA | |||||
| "Sugar Sugar/ La rete d'oro" | 1985 | 5 | Lorel | ||
| "Tutto matto/ Sandy" | 1986 | 6 |
| ||
| "Kangarù/ Accedimi il cuore" | — | ||||
| "L'amore è/ Chi è di scena" (featuring Alessandra Martines) | 12 | ||||
| "Io ballerò/ Se ti va di cantare" | 1987 | 3 |
| rowspan="6" | |
| "La notte vola" | 1989 | 7 |
| ||
| "Lullabye Mix" | — | ||||
| "Magic (Mix Version)" | — | ||||
| "Per te Armenia/ Sono caduti" (featuring Vittorio Gassman) | — | ||||
| "Ascolta il cuore" | 1991 | — | |||
| "Oh signorina/ Tarzan" (featuring Francesco Salvi and Marco Columbro) | 17 | Se lo sapevo | |||
| "Liberi liberi" | 1992 | — | Voci | ||
| "Un altro amore no" | 1995 | — | Voglia di fare | ||
| "Uno di noi" (featuring Gianni Morandi) | 2002 | 31 | rowspan="3" | ||
| "Un'onda d'amore" | 2008 | — | |||
| "Il mio viaggio" | 2010 | — | |||
| "Tanto tempo ancora" (featuring Heather Parisi) | 2016 | — | Nemicamatissima | ||
| "Un pacco per te" (with Il Pagante) | 2021 | — |
| Year | Other artist(s) | Album | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| "This Is the Time" (cover) | 1990 | Sentieri d'amore | ||
| "Voci" | 1992 | Buona Domenica | ||
| "Tu come me/ Tu como yo" | 1993 | Micaela | ||
| "Parola a chi" | 1995 | La stangata | ||
| "Portami via" | Luca Jurman | |||
| "Mi mancherai" | Il disprezzo | |||
| "X Te" | 1996 | Buona Domenica | ||
| "Ran can can" | 1999 | Campioni di ballo | ||
| "Guarda la realtà" | 2017 | My Little Pony: The Movie | ||
| "Magica Doremì" | 2022 | Cristina D'Avena | 40 - Il sogno continua |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | Guiding Light | Herself | Soap opera, cameo | |
| 1992 | Piazza di Spagna | Annabella Morganti | Miniseries | |
| 1998 | Starfleet Crewman | Uncredited | ||
| 2004 | Amiche | Giovanna Marchi | Miniseries | |
| 2006 | Lo zio d'America | Francesca | Main role (season 2) | |
| 2007 | Lissi und der wilde Kaiser | Lissi (voice) | Italian dub | |
| 2012 | L'amore è sordo | Director Lorella | Television film | |
| 2017 | My Little Pony: The Movie | Tempest Shadow (voice) | Italian dub | |
| 2018 | L'isola di Pietro | Isabella Sulci | Recurring role | |
| 2024 | No Activity | Committee Chair | Episode: "Notte numero 17" |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1984 | Te lo do io il Brasile | Herself/ Background dancer | Variety show | |
| 1985 | Il tastomatto | Variety show | ||
| 1985–1987 | Fantastico | Herself/ Various | Variety show (seasons 6–7) | |
| 1987–1988 | Festival | Herself/co-host | Variety show | |
| 1988–1989 | Odiens | Sketch comedy show | ||
| 1989, 1995, 2000 | Vota la voce | Competition show (seasons 17, 23, 28) | ||
| 1990–2004 | Paperissima | Variety show (seasons 1–2, 4–7) | ||
| 1991 | Bellezze sulla neve | Game show (season 1) | ||
| 1991–1996 | Buona domenica | Herself/host | Variety show (seasons 4–5, 8) | |
| 1993 | Sanremo Music Festival 1993 | Herself/co-host | Annual music festival | |
| 1995 | La stangata: Chi la fa l'aspetti | Herself/host | Prank variety show | |
| 1996; 1999 | Campioni di ballo | Competition dance show (seasons 1 and 4) | ||
| 1998 | A tutta festa | Herself/co-host | Variety show | |
| 2001 | La notte vola | Herself/host | Musical show | |
| Stelle a quattro zampe | Animal competition show | |||
| 2002–2003 | Uno di noi | Herself/co-host | Variety show | |
| 2008 | La sai l'ultima? | Herself/host | Variety show (season 10) | |
| 2010–2011 | Domenica in | Herself/co-host | Talk show (season 35) | |
| 2011 | Un amico è così | Herself/host | Reality competition show | |
| Star Academy | Herself/ Judge | Competition dance show | ||
| 2012 | Miss Italia 2012 | Annual beauty contest | ||
| 2014 | La pista | Competition dance show | ||
| 2015 | Ti lascio una canzone | Musical talent show | ||
| 2016 | Nemicamatissima | Herself/co-host | Variety show | |
| 2019–2020 | La vita in diretta | Talk show (season 30) | ||
| 2020–present | Amici di Maria De Filippi | Herself/dance teacher | Talent show (season 20) | |
| Herself/singing teacher | Talent show (season 21–present) | |||
| 2022 | Striscia la notizia | Herself/guest host | Variety show (season 34) | |
| 2023 | Sanremo Music Festival 2023 | Herself/guest | Guest performer for the 4th night | |
| 2024 | Sanremo Music Festival 2024 | Herself/co-host | Co-host for the 4th night |
| Year | Title | Role | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1997–1999 | Grease | Sandy Dobrowski | |
| 2005–2007 | Sweet Charity | Charity | |
| 2014–2016; 2022 | Rapunzel: The Musical | Mother Gothel |